


False First Impressions and Wasted Time

by LydiaJ



Category: The Rat Patrol
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-24 23:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13821489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LydiaJ/pseuds/LydiaJ





	False First Impressions and Wasted Time

The first time Jack Moffitt met Tully Pettigrew, he didn't expect much from him, intellectually. The other man was a moonshiner, probably raised in a shack somewhere. He'd told Jack, early on, that he hadn't even graduated high school, had dropped out to work. So Jack had shrugged, assumed he didn't have much in the way of book smarts, and moved on.  
That had been a mistake. Tully may not have had much schooling, but he was one of the smartest people Jack knew. He'd first had an inkling of this when Tully mentioned reading his father's book. Jack had read it, and understood it, but he'd had years more at school. For Tully to pick it up at all, well, that meant something. What exactly, he wasn't sure, but something.  
After Troy and Hitch drove off, Tully surprised him again.   
"Don't come near the jeep, Sarge, I don't want to shoot you."  
"I have to go find my father." Jack was desperate. "Please, Tully. Please."  
"You can go where you want, Sarge, just don't come near the jeep." Tully was smiling at him, for some reason.   
It took a moment for his words to sink in. Then he smiled. "Thank you, Tully." He quickly stripped the dead Arab man of his clothes, and headed off. 

After they had seen his father off, the Rat Patrol got 72 hours leave. Jack headed to a bar. He needed a drink. Tully joined him when he was halfway through his second beer.   
"You really read my father's book?"  
"Yeah. He's your father, I wanted to know what he'd done," Tully said, "And it was an interesting book. All that stuff about treasures hiding under the sands, waiting to be found. Different cultures, things like that."  
"My father has quite a way with words," Jack said. He paused, then decided to ask anyway. "Why did you let me go?"  
"Well, like I said before, he didn't seem like the type you'd just write off. I wasn't sure if you'd find him alive, but I figured you'd find him." Tully smiled. "And you did, so Troy didn't even yell at me that much."  
"He yelled at you?"  
"Yeah. I did let you leave when he didn't want you to. I'm lucky it's Troy, I could have been court martialed."  
"I'm glad you weren't. I'd hate to have to train another driver!"  
"I'll drink to that," Tully said. 

After that, Jack found himself noticing Tully more. The other man seldom talked, but when he did, he said something worth listening to. He watched things, observed like few people Jack knew did. And he was one of the most attractive men he had ever seen. Jack dreamed about running his hands through that golden hair. And Tully's habit of not wearing a shirt under his jacket drove him to distraction.

The Rat Patrol was out on a routine mission to find and destroy Afrika Korps convoys. Everything was going fine until Tully took a bullet high up on his chest. He was lucky it was just a ricochet. He slumped sideways, dragging himself out of the driver's seat so Jack could jump in. He signaled Troy that they were pulling out and drove to safety, Tully bleeding in the seat beside him.  
Tully wasn't wearing a shirt, again, and his blood stood out against his tan skin as it flowed down his chest. He groaned in pain and tried to staunch the bleeding with his balled-up shirt. He couldn't keep it pressed against his chest, though, so Jack reached over and helped him, driving one handed.   
As soon as they stopped, Jack jumped out of the jeep and helped Tully down. "Are you alright? Please, Tully, are you all right?"  
"Still alive, at least," Tully mumbled, "It hurts." Fresh blood welled out of the wound as he moved to lie down. There was no exit wound that Jack could see. Just the one hole, oozing blood.  
Jack gave in and stroked Tully's hair as he held a bandage to the wound. It was soft beneath his fingers and the other man tilted his head into his touch. "You'll be fine, Tully. You'll be ok."  
"Course I will. You and Sarge won't let anything happen." Tully smiled weakly, looking so trusting and hopeful that it sent a barb through Jack's heart.   
"Of course."  
It was then that Troy and Hitch roared over the dunes, Troy leaping off the back of the jeep before Hitch stopped. He knelt next to Tully, opposite Jack, and looked down at him. "What happened? Can we move him?"  
"Yes, I think he should last until we reach our lines. We aren't too far away, for once. His wound doesn't look too serious, just painful."  
"It certainly is that," Tully said. He was biting his lip and his face was drawn in pain. Jack stroked his hair again and he relaxed a bit.   
"Do you want morphine?" Jack asked.  
"No, I'll be fine."  
"All right, put him on the back of the jeep. Moffitt, you stay with him. I'll drive." Troy helped Jack finish bandaging Tully and lifting him onto the jeep.   
The ride back was bumpy, despite Troy's best efforts. Tully groaned in pain and squeezed Jack's hand until he thought it would break. Jack held his head steady in his lap. He hated seeing him in pain.   
"Are you sure you don't want morphine?"  
"No." Tully shook his head. "I'll be ok." The jeep immediately hit a rock and bounced roughly. He arched in pain, only mostly biting back his moan. Jack curled around him, trying to keep him safe. He brought their joined hands to his mouth and kissed Tully's knuckles absently. Tully almost managed a smile, but grimaced in pain when the jeep hit another rock.  
"Can't you drive more carefully, Troy?"  
"I'm trying, I'm trying. You don't know about any ancient roads around here, do you?" Troy asked.   
"No, nothing I can remember."   
They lapsed back into a worried silence. Troy would glance back every so often, usually when Tully groaned. He looked up at Jack after a particularly loud one. "We're almost there."  
"Good. Did you hear that, Tully?"  
Tully nodded, weakly. His bandage was showing spots of blood. 

Once they delivered Tully to the medics, Troy took off to talk to the Captain. Jack and Hitch waited outside the medical tent.  
"Do you think he'll be all right?" Hitch asked, "He looked pretty bad."  
"He'll be fine. Tully's strong, it'll take more than this to take him out," Jack said.   
"You sure?" Hitch looked very young and worried.   
"Absolutely." Tully had to be fine. If he wasn't... Not having Tully around would be unthinkable. Horrifying. 

"Private Pettigrew can have one visitor. He probably won't be aware of you, though he may wake up," the nurse said.  
"You go, Moffitt," Troy said.  
Jack was up on his feet practically before Troy had stopped talking. "Thank you." And he followed the nurse to Tully's bed.   
Tully lay flat on his back, his face pale and drawn, his eyes closed. Jack sat in the chair next to the bed and took Tully's hand in his. The other man was so still, and in a way so different from his normal stillness, that Jack found himself watching Tully's chest to make sure he still breathed.   
After a few minutes, Tully's hand weakly squeezed his. His eyes opened, just enough to show. "Who's it?"  
"It's Moffit," Jack said, "How do you feel?"  
"The morphine helps. Feels better with you here." Tully's head lolled to one side and he smiled. "Can you stroke my hair again? Feels nice."   
"Of course," Jack said, before he could stop himself. He kept ahold of Tully's hand, but carefully smoothed his hair back with the other. Tully's smile grew.   
"Thanks, Sarge." Tully sighed and closed his eyes again.   
Jack stayed at Tully's side until a nurse kicked him out. Since Tully was asleep, he left him with a kiss on the forehead. The other man looked almost peaceful, despite the bandage.

After a couple of days, Tully was moved to a private tent. Hitch pulled the first shift with him. Jack tried to sleep. He kept dreaming of Tully dying, his face draining of all life as his blood poured out of his wound. The sight of his dead face jolted Jack awake.   
He gave up on sleep sometime around two in the morning. When he went outside, it was cold and clear, stars twinkling everywhere. There was a light on in Tully's tent.   
Before he was aware of it, Jack was in front of the tent, lifting the flap. Tully was awake and propped up on some pillows. He was reading a book Jack had leant to him, before he was wounded. It was about ruins in the upper Sahara.  
"How do you like the book?"  
"It's good." Tully smiled up at him. "Thanks for letting me read it."  
"It's no problem at all. I enjoy being able to talk to someone about these things."   
"Quit standing around, c'mon over here," Tully said. He waved at a chair that was beside his bed. Jack sat down.   
"Are you feeling better?"  
"Yeah. Almost good as new. The doc says I got lucky. If it hadn't been a ricochet, it probably would have killed me."  
"That... that is lucky. I'm glad. I'm very glad." Jack swallowed past the lump in his throat.   
"You all right?" Tully asked. He put the book down and shifted closer to Jack. "You got real pale there all of a sudden."  
"I'm fine, fine. I just hadn't realized it was that bad. That it was that.. that close." I could have lost you, he didn't say. Lost you without ever really having you.   
"Hey, it's all right. I'm fine now, aren't I?" Tully squeezed Jack's thigh. Jack covered his hand with his own before he could think about it. "See? It'll be ok."  
"Tully..." Jack trailed off, unsure of what he was going to say. He looked up and their eyes met. Tully's expression was open, for a change, and it made Jack's breath catch. The other man was looking at him with what could only be described as affection.   
"You want to know why I refused morphine?" Tully asked. "It's because, if I died, I wanted my last memory to be of you. Of you holding me like you were. I didn't- I-" He looked down, suddenly. "I'm saying too much."  
"No! I mean... If you're trying to say..." Jack took a deep breath. "I feel... the same."  
"You do? You're not joking are you?"  
"No. I would never joke. Not about this." Jack reached out and stroked Tully's cheek. "Never about this."  
"Good," Tully said. He turned his head and pressed a kiss into Jack's palm. "I'm glad."  
The kiss sent warm shivers through Jack. It had been a long time since anyone had touched him romantically. He slid closer and Tully shifted to the side, so he could sit on the bed. They stared at each other for a long moment, before Jack leaned forward and kissed Tully square on the mouth.  
It was everything he had hoped for. Tully buried one hand in Jack's hair and pulled him into his lap. Jack spared a thought for his wound, but only for a second. Then he was too busy kissing and wrapping himself around Tully. He'd lost too much time to be slow about this. From the way Tully was matching his intensity, he felt the same way.  
They only broke off when they absolutely had to breathe. Jack immediately checked Tully's bandage, but it was still spotlessly white, no blood at all. Then he got distracted by Tully's bare chest. He'd seen it before, many times, but not this close. And not when he could touch. He slid one hand over Tully's skin, entranced by the sensation.   
Tully's soft laugh made him look up. The other man tugged on his scarf until it came loose. Then he started unbuttoning his shirt. "Seems only fair. You've seen more of me than I have of you."  
"Says the man who doesn't wear a shirt half the time. You tease."  
"Worked, didn't it? Eventually." Tully smiled and pushed Jack's shirt off his shoulders. Jack shook it off the rest of the way before he realized what Tully said.  
"Worked? What does that mean?"  
"Huh?" Tully looked up from his exploration of Jack's body. "Oh c'mon. You though I was just hanging around like that for no reason? With my jacket open, just begging for sunscreen? I was trying to catch your eye."  
"What fools we were. Wasting all that time."  
"Then let's not waste any more." And with that, Tully went back to kissing him.


End file.
